THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY REPRESENTATIVE EXPRESSED BEWILDERMENT CONNECTED WITH THE SPREAD INFORMATION ABOUT THE RESTATIONING OF RUSSIAN EQUIPMENT FROM GEORGIA TO ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net - 03.11.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed his bewilderment with the spread information, both on the official level and in mass media of a number of countries, about the restationing of 76 Russian armored combat vehicles (ACV) from the Russian military base of Akhalkalaki in Georgia to the Russian military base of Gyumri in Armenia.

As the statement of the official representative says, "recently this theme was again raised at the briefing in the US State Department. It seems that in certain circles they don't mind presenting the transfer of limited quantity of Russian military equipment as not meeting the demands of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) and even the supposedly originating threat to the whole Transcaucasian region".

In this connection, notes the official representative, "we'd like to draw the attention to the fact that the transfer of Russian ACV, begun on October 20, 2000, strictly corresponds to the Agreement on adoption of the CFE Treaty. It is being realized by the clearly expressed consent of the leadership of Armenia, it meets the levels for temporary deployment on the territory of Armenia, and the member-states of CFE Treaty have already received corresponding notification".

The Russian Foreign Ministry representative stressed that "neighboring countries also have nothing to worry about". The Russian ACV will be in the Russian military base of Gyumri "under the strict control of the Russian military". Measures taken by Russia bear purely organizing character and are dictated by technical and financial reasons. It is but natural that carrying out its Istanbul duties in the CFE Treaty context the Russian side has the right to choose the optimal, including the economically justified solutions".

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